Indiana senator says farmers deserve explanation

Published online: Jun 15, 2013

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Indiana Sen. Dan Coats joined a bipartisan group of senators in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting an explanation why the agency leaked personal information of over 80,000 farmers and ranchers to environmental groups.

The personal information leaked by EPA earlier this year included names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

"These EPA leaks are unacceptable and raise questions about whether the agency is more concerned with appeasing environmentalists than protecting the men and women who make our food production system possible," Coats said.

Indiana's farmers should be able to earn a living form their hard work without having their personal information disclosed, he added.

Senate Amendment 970, sponsored by Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, which would have prohibited EPA from disclosing sensitive livestock producer information in the future, has been blocked by Senate Democrats.

Source: brownfieldagnews.com

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